


Illecebrous

by Steph1roth



Category: Kuroshitsuji | Black Butler
Genre: Alternate Universe - Canon Divergence, Alternate Universe - Fantasy, Alternate Universe - Soulmates, Multi
Language: English
Status: In-Progress
Published: 2020-01-20
Updated: 2020-02-03
Packaged: 2021-02-27 15:47:21
Rating: Mature
Warnings: Creator Chose Not To Use Archive Warnings
Chapters: 3
Words: 4,561
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/22329568
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/Steph1roth/pseuds/Steph1roth
Summary: Illecebrous: Alluring, Attractive, Enticing.  Which is what Bashe is to Sebastian.Bashe was once an angel of Heaven, loyal to God, singer of His Holy Praises, but eventually it was not enough.  She found that she was missing something in her life, a longing for something more. What was she missing?  In short: A demon.This is a universe where angels and demons were once one.  Two sides of the same being shattered and split in two with a single word from God.  One of shining light staying with him, and the other of seething darkness followed the devil into Hell.Angels and Demons are not supposed to love one another, but Bashe found in her demon a love that not even God could compare to.  She was whole, complete.  Though it was not meant to be.  Angered by her actions the Angelic host hunted her down.  Her family turned to dust and her demon...gone.  Punished and alone for refusing to give up the other have to her soul her halo was broken, her wings shorn from her back, and molten silver pour into her mouth binding her for eternity.
Comments: 4
Kudos: 6





	1. Illecebrous

Darkness had become her constant. A tangible thing engulfing her in its suffocating embrace and echoing the changing times through stone crypt that served as her prison. Bound, gagged and covered in angelic wards kept her here but didn’t bind her power, that, seeped out of her like a festering wound. Silently undulating through the grout, mortar and cracks in the stone, corrupting the soil and turning it into an extension of her will. Over time the wildlife succumbed to her will, becoming her eyes, her hands and teeth, when needed.

She kept her territory small, a modest patch of dense forest just outside of London, the vicious wildlife kept even the most determined of settlers from getting much. Loggers often disappeared only to found days later vicious torn part. Trees and undergrowth grew dense and seemingly over night reclaiming all attempts to claim it for human hands. Over time rumors spread of the haunted forest that only allowed travelers through that left coins in a rotted stump at either edge of the only trail going through it. No one took from the ever-growing pile of coins as those that did garnered the wrath of the forest and died painful deaths.

Deep in her crypt nature had begun reclaiming the structure, with some help, roots breaking stone, water eroding mortar and finally sunlight after an eternity of darkness ceiling finally caved in and she saw the sky for the first time in three hundred years. Content to remain, she never tried to escape even when the chains rusted away. Never sought freedom even with it in sight. _No_. she thought. _It was better here. Forgotten and alone. At peace._

Once she hated those that bound her here. Those who cut off her wings and ripped her freedom away. She learned long ago that she was never alone. The hum of the land around her listened and cradled her, allowing her to sink into its embrace. The plants sung her songs of the sun and wind and rain. The animals kept her company, kept her safe and free. Free from people and hate and pain and anger. In her prison she found freedom and peace. 

That did not mean that she didn’t have regrets or those she longed for. Of course, she did. Those she missed dearly, alive or dead, but they either cared not for her or had no idea where she might be. The angels did hide her well.

A full moon illuminated her crypt tonight and a distant howl echoed on the warm summer breeze. She swayed in her confinement to its song soon joined by its fellows in a lovely chorus. They were on the hunt. New prey in the forest. Her eyes fluttered close as she joined with her lupine companions.

* * *

The sharp vision of the wolf came into focus. She simply rode its senses neither seeking control or possession, both firmly in her power. A noble’s carriage approached, halting at the edge of the forest. A young boy with an eye-patch leaned out of the window speaking to a strangely dressed man with raven black hair and scarlet eyes.

He felt familiar. She bade the wolves to watch. The strange man tossed a coin in the stump.

They knew that the strange man saw them, and they made no effort to hide, trotting alongside the carriage just out of sight. Peeking through the undergrowth and between trees. Often, he focused on the wolf she rode with, no matter which one she hopped to. 

_Who are you?_

The carriage stopped. A wolf stood in the center of the rough and overgrown rode.

“Sebastian!” a shrill and impatient voice came from inside the carriage. “Why have we stop-“

“A wolf, Young Master.” His toned clipped. “We are not alone.”

_Who are you?_

“Who is speaking?” he demanded looking out the window again to find an entire pack of wolves surrounding them as well as other night creatures in the trees, eyes glowing the same violet hue.

“I do not know, Young Master.”

_Who?_

“Sebastian, we don’t have time for this. Get us out of here.”

“As you wish, My Lord.”

_Sebastian…?_

Their voice echoed around them. _No._ She cast her mind to the horses. They were not hard to win over, beasts eager to please, she bade them to come to her. No longer listening to the strange man or his master’s orders they were either forced to abandon the carriage or see where it led. 

She heard the horses stop overhead, their hooves reverberated through the ground to her legs buried in the stone and earth, covered in roots and vines. _Come. Demon…demon…demon…demon…_ her voice echoing around her in soft gasps.

She felt them coming before anything else. The impatient stomp of a child lord and the near silent footsteps of an inhuman being. She swayed to the sound. Looking up as they stood overhead at the edge of the sinkhole. The demon’s eyes found her immediately, narrowing he obeyed his master and leapt down into the hole with him cradled in his arms. 

Broken chains rattled as she swayed to a song only, she could hear. Their human voices far away, muffled. She tried to focus on them, but her mind had been scattered for so long, melded into the land that it forgot that it has a body. 

The boy and man were speaking. Perhaps to her, perhaps to each other, but she couldn’t hear. Muffled as always. There was a crackle of magic. An order given. A contract. Then a hand grasped her jaw, its mind invading hers, forcing her back into the present. The forest and animals faded to the periphery. The boy and his master forced into focus. 

“Can you hear me?” The man asked, presumably for an unknownth time by the look of annoyance on his face. She let her head wobble in his grasp, unresisting, like a well-greased hinge. She focused on his eyes. _So familiar._ She thought. _Who are you?_

“Familiar, am I?” he asked turning her head this way and that, her eyes following him.

“Well?” the boy asked impatiently. “What is it and how can I hear it?”

“An abomination.” The man replied with a wicked smile. _Familiar…abomination? Yes…they clipped my wings. Buried me deep…down, down, down._ He continued to examine her closely.

“What is an abomination exactly?” Her eyes focused briefly on the boy, but a firm shake from the man forced her attention back on him.

“ _She_.” He corrected. “You can hear her through our mark. So, this is what they did with you.” he whispered so only she could hear. He let her go. Her eyes followed him as he rose.

“Are you going to answer me?” he demanded.

“She is an angel that chose a demon. A forbidden thing. “his eyes flared a moment in what she could on guess was anger.

“Why is she here?”

“Presumably this is where she was to bound for all eternity. As they were unable to kill her or unwilling.” The man finally cast his gaze around her crypt. “I can also reasonably surmise that she is responsible for the ‘haunting’ of the forest.”

“How so?” she heard him ask, their eyes meeting for the first time. He had lovely blue eyes. She could feel that he thought the same of hers, though they were closer to his man’s eyes in hue than any others.

“Time and age have weakened some of the wards here allowing her mind to join with the surrounding area. Had we not arrived when we did the joining would have been irreversible.”

_Familiar._

The man looked down at her. She heard the boy ask him why she kept saying that. “She has spent too long here. Her memories are faded shadows, like a half-remembered dream. It could be any number of reasons she thinks she recognizes my face.”

“Does this mean we can leave?” he asked.

“If we don’t free her of her bonds, Young Master, she will just meld with the land again and become a nuisance for the Queen, thus requiring us to come back here.”

She heard the boy sigh. “Fine. How do we free her?”

Her eyes followed the man as he knelt before her. He tucked a lock of her dirty, matted hair behind her ear with a strange sort of tenderness rarely seen in a demon. Her violet eyes focused on him, gold flecks glittering in them like a dozen candle flames. Lolling her head from side to side he gently brushed the grime from her silver gag. His gloves catching on the jagged edges of parched lips, pulling them from the gag slightly to reveal her teeth firmly embedded in the silver.

Pulling a stark white handkerchief from his breast pocket he wiped the grime from her bonds. One hand firmly on the shoulder to stop her from swaying with whatever tune she heard over the wind. All throughout she kept repeating herself. _Familiar. Familiar._

“Can you hurry up?”

“I am afraid not, Young Master.” Continuing to wipe away the grime. “She has been here a very long time and I have yet to locate the correct ward to allow us to move her.”

“Why not?”

“She is deliberately hiding it from me.” Her eyes flickered from him to the boy and back again. “Lack of trust is not unreasonable in her position. I do apologize, this will take time, “he focused back on the boy. “I will return you to the manor and return here for her.”

“…Fine.” The boy said, “Just be quick.”

With a final glance the man and the boy were gone, and she was alone. She hardly had time to let her mind meld back into the land before his familiar presence was back. Staring at her with hard, red eyes. 

_Demon._

“Yes.” She watched the man melt off him, revealing the demon she knew. Sharp heels clicking on the broken stone floor. “Better?”

_Yes. Familiar._

She relaxed, held up only by the thick silver bands that bound her arms to her sides. Sharp claws dug into the soil and stone, ripping through roots and vines to reveal her legs. Roots of all kinds had grown _into_ her, removing _could_ have been easy had he just ripped them out, but uncharacteristic care was taken by the demon.

“You chose to stay.” He remarked once he’d freed her. It was true the wards that bound her faded long ago to the point that a twitch could have broken them, but why? What reason did she have to seek freedom? The brittle metal shattered with the barest of movements, leaving only the silver gag remaining, the one piece that remained strong. “Why now?”

She tilted her head and would have fallen over if the demon, now back in his guise as a human, hadn’t been holding her upright. _You._ The echo sounded more like her now, stronger, and still no less beautiful. 


	2. Silver Gilded Guest

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Sebastian cleans up our new guest.

Sebastian brought her back to the manor in the dead of night, long after everyone had retired, so they would not see her in such a dreadful state and because he had to stop continually to reposition her. She was listless in his arms, her heading rolling from side to side if he didn’t keep his shoulder jutted at an odd angle to keep her head on his in the crook of his neck. She was so light. The roots of the forest greedily drinking her strength. Her skin was nearly translucent and the only signs that she was alive were the warm puffs of air on his neck from her nose. Which was more reassuring than he let on.

“You look dreadful.” In the same mocking and patronizing tone, he used when scolding his young master. “It won’t due to have the young master see you so.”

Had she been anyone else he would not have cared, but she always carried a special place in his heart, a place that he was both resentful and grateful for. She complicated his place as a demon and brought with her a host of emotions that he spent careful time burying under lifetimes of sin. She focused on him as best she could, but the weakness of her current state made moving far to taxing.

She heard water running in the background from where she lay on her back staring at an unfamiliar ceiling. Head rolling to one side towards she sound she watched Sebastian filling a tub with steaming water. How long had it been since she had a bath? She wondered, her eyes briefly flicking to the floor where her arm had fallen. The stone was cold.  _ Odd. _ It had been so long since she’d felt cold. He stared at her over his shoulder, gaze flickering between her face and the lifeless hand laying on the floor.

“You really are in a hopeless position, aren’t you?” he asked smirking at her, only she could hear the sliver of concern in his tone.

She didn’t move when he towered over her. Helpless. Weak. He should have consumed her, in fact, he thought about it. Halting a hair’s breadth from her face, violent eyes locked on him. Sighing he gently laid her arm across her stomach.

“I should devour you.” he continued filling another bucket to wash the worst of the grime from her hair. No reason to soil the water meant for soaking with all this dirt. Moving her so that her head dangled over the edge. “You are weak. Helpless. A shadow and foolish.” He stared down at her ripping his gloves off with his teeth he roughly lathering her hair. The suds almost immediately turned a dark brown. “Allowing yourself to be chained. For what?” he spat, dumping a bucket of clean water over her head. “A demon?” 

He glared down at her. White has starting to poke through, but the worst of the mats still required more attention. He was silent for some time roughly rubbing soap into the mats and rinsing out dirt and grime until her hair was the color of snow. 

“You should have given him up. Instead you remained silent,” She continued to watch him wash the grim from skin. “and what did that decision get you, hm?” he asked rolling her onto her stomach. “Clipped wings…” he whispered running his fingers over the deep and ugly scars on her back. “…and a broken Halo. Pathetic.”

She was uncertain if he was calling her pathetic or himself. Not that she could have asked with a mouth full of silver anyhow. Lifted from the table and cradled against his chest Sebastian lowered her gently into the hot water, pulling her hair out to dangle over the side. He’d have to take care of the wounds on her legs. He had tried to be gentle, but the roots had run deep, burrowing through her flesh and greedily sapping her strength to grow. 

Lifting her legs out of the water he laid with over a pillow balanced on the edge of the tub. He left her like that while he went to prepare the poultice needed to heal those wounds. Savagely biting his wrist Sebastian let his blood fill the stone bowl of echinacea, goldenseal, yarrow, goldenrod and calendula. Mumbling to himself in the language of demons and grinding everything up into a reddish paste. While the poultice finished setting up Sebastian began the painstaking process of removing  _ all _ the bits of root embedded in her flesh so that the greedy plants could not feed off her any longer. 

She hardly flinched. Watching him work and the pile of root filaments growing beside him. He was angry, but she was hardly sure who it was directed at. Her? Himself? The ones that sealed her in that crypt? Maybe it was a bit of all three. 

* * *

It took hours to finish. She drifted in and out of consciousness during the long process and the subsequent process of wrapping her legs. She didn’t know what happened after that or how much time had passed only that she woke in a strange room surrounded by flowers, warm sunlight and soft sheets. 

Breathing in sharply through her nose from the stabbing pain of attempting to move her legs, she realized where-ever she was she was stuck her until she’d recovered enough to move on her own. 

She wasn’t sure how long she laid there drifting in and out of sleep, likely most of the day, as the sun had begun to dip below the trees when she heard voices outside her room.

_ “Well?” _ She tilted her head identifying a young boy’s voice, not quite a man yet.

_ “Yes, Young Master.” _ His voice was familiar, she exhaled through her nose, she thought she almost dreamed it.  _ “She is still quite weak, recovery will take some time, but I do believe she can entertain a guest for a few minutes.” _

The butler opened the door for the young master, who couldn’t have been more than 11,  _ poor child _ , she thought,  _ to have such a burden at a tender age. _ Closing the door behind him she watched the boy approach. Sebastian right behind him. The most she could do was turn her head to face him directly.

“What is in her mouth?”

“I believe her captors filled her mouth with molten silver,” He explained ignoring the boys shocked expression. “so that she could never sing again.”

“Her name?” he asked, unnerved by the intense violet eyes watching him curiously.

“Bashe, young master.”

“Bashe?” he echoed. “What a strange name. And you know her?” he turning to look at him over his shoulder.

Bashe continued to watch them talk about her, their words meant little to her exhausted mind and no one was addressing her directly. She felt her eyes drifting closed. No matter how hard she tried the sandman was not waiting. 

* * *

Bashe was unsure how long she slept, but it must have been a long time. She was vaguely aware of the changes of light in the room and the sounds of people talking outside her door. She was aware that only one person came into her room regularly. Even in her slumber she’d recognize the demon. He changed her bandages, checked her for fever and other signs of infection. Today, however, he was poking at her mouth inspecting the silver.

Bashe opened her eyes slowly. Adjusting to the light Sebastian’s face came into focus. He was staring down at her face intently, fingers poking around her mouth and pushing her lips aside. He spared her a single glance to acknowledge that he’d seen her wake before sitting back.

“Quite a spell they placed on you.” he commented running a black nailed finger over the engravings. “It seems I will need the blood of the pure to release it. Where ever will I acquire that?” he mused tapping on the silver. “I don’t suppose you know where I can find one of those do you?”

Bashe would have smiled if she could, his eyes long jaded to the world unable to fathom that his very master was a pure soul. Her only response was the fingers on her left-hand twitching.

Watching him intently, she read his normally unreadable body language: the stiffness of his entire body gave away betrayed him. He wanted to read out and touch her, but denied himself, still under the misguided impression that he couldn’t feel love. Before he could make up his mind, however, both sets of eyes focused on the door as the young master’s voice echoed through the halls.

_ Sebastian! _

“I must be going.” His tone curt and abrupt. “Do rest, my love.” 

He bowed closing the door quietly behind him. Bashe’s gaze firmly fixed on the door for some time before she found the energy to stare at the ceiling.


	3. Reminiscence

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> A mid-night walk leads to a cuddly reunion, where we see more vulnerable side of our demon Butler.

Bashe didn’t know how long she remained bedridden, Sebastian never told her how long, but she was aware that a great deal of time passed. He fed her the souls of animals to help speed along her recovery even if it left a terrible taste in his mouth, for which she was grateful. 

Tonight she felt restless. Despite the fact that her overprotective demon butler told her to rest, she needed to get outside, if only for a few minutes before he found her. She remained barefoot and in the fine spun cotton nightgown that Sebastian had brought her. He kept bringing her new and clean nightgowns, throwing out the ones that became soiled from her recovery. Her legs had mostly healed leaving light, pock-hole scars all over the once flawless skin. She kept her white hair in a loose braid down her back. 

Stepping out into the hallway, Bashe’s eyes drank in the dim light and rich colors of the Phantomhive manor. The manor was quiet, the air held a tension like it was afraid to breathe, she thought she heard a scream in the distance. Standing still for a moment to listen she kept moving when all that greeted her was silence. 

Her feet barely made a sound. She nearly glided over the wooden floorboards with only the whisper of her clothing to mark her passing. Bashe was overwhelmed by the sensations of the night once she stepped outside. Her feet sinking into the soft soil, still wet from the recent rains, mud squishing between her toes. She would have had a smile of pure joy if not for the gag when she looked down and dug her feet further into the mud. 

A full moon illuminated the estate grounds casting everything in a velvety shadow that reminded her of his true form. A thing of beauty. She wept the first time she saw it, like she was weeping now, freedom finally in her grasp. 

* * *

He watched her. Entranced by her ethereal beauty all over again. She seemed to glow under the moonlight, silver threads in her hair reflecting its light as she walked through the garden’s barefoot. He shadowed her, remembering the first time they met, she stood there before him a pillar of flame and feathers wrapped in holy majesty. 

He knew from the first time he saw her that she was  _ his _ ,  _ his _ mate,  _ his _ equal in every way and he both hated and loved her for it. She brought with her all the glory of humanity. Through her he learned love, mercy, compassion, and most of all fear. He  _ feared _ losing her. It was the one thing he feared the most, a life, an eternity without her...he’d go mad and, in fact, he did. 

When she failed to return he spent decades trying to find her. Nothing. He went through all the stages of grief, another thing he hated her for, remaining angry for hundreds of years, consuming souls left and right. Next came apathy. He felt nothing, for anyone or anything, without her his emotions faded away leaving him hollow, empty and ravenous. Souls were the only thing that filled that void and even then it was only temporary, soon the hollowness returned and with it anger. 

He hated her. Wanted to destroy her. Bury the feeling her skin against his. How she looked upon his true form and embraced him. She called him beautiful. When he heard her voice in the woods he wanted nothing more than to rip her apart, limb from limb and watch her suffer. The sight that awaited him was not what he expected. 

She’d already been punished. Betrayed by her own kind, her beautiful wings torn from her body, her mouth filled with molten metal that he may never hear her voice again. His anger towards her dissipated, replaced by a fierce hatred for the ones that took her from him. She hadn’t left him. She’d been taken. 

* * *

She felt him watching her. He had been since she left the manor, but at least he hadn’t drug her back inside. Her eyes intently watching the spot in the shadows that he stepped out of. He didn’t look like he was upset or going to drag her back inside. 

“I am not going to drag you back inside.” answering the unspoken question. “I thought about it…” he stepped close enough to feel the heat coming off her, raising his hand he cupped her cheek. “...You look like a dream. I hate that I miss you so much, what your love does to me.” 

“I am not free. That you come to me now is cruel.” He sighed. “ Neither are you, are you?” 

She shook her head but he knew the answer already. He pulled her against his chest, wrapping his arms tight around her, he rested his cheek on her head. They stayed like that for a long time. Neither speaking and just enjoying the  _ feel _ of each other again. He hated her, but he loved her more.

“Would you like me to stay with you from now on?” 

Bashe nodded, she could feel his smile, tilting her head up she nuzzled him with her nose as she wasn’t able to kiss him proper. Looking down at her, he wanted to kiss her...badly. However, that silver gag was in his way. He’d have to get rid of that thing, and soon, but convincing her to tell him how would take time. Instead he settled for pressing his lips against her forehead. 

Leading her back to the manor and through the kitchen entrance, since it was already dirty, he filled a bucket of water to wash the mud from her feet. She sat on one of the kitchen stools watching him, even if she couldn’t smile her eyes did. 

He glanced up at her. The corners of his mouth twitching. “I can’t have you dragging mud all over the floors.” He felt her laugh as he finished drying her feet. Rising gracefully and offering his hand to her. 

Taking his outstretched hand with her own, Bashe didn’t resist being led back to the room she’d been put in. Getting her settled back into bed Sebastian hung up his coat in the wardrobe. It was strange watching him get undressed. Carefully folding his trousers and hanging up his shirt for the next day. Bashe was happy to see that he took such great care with such mundane items. 

He didn’t bother with clothes for bed, although she was both relieved and disappointed that she still wore her nightgown, slipping into bed next to her. Propping himself up with pillows against the headboard Sebastian picked up a book while Bashe cuddled up against him. Wrapping her arms around his waist and her head on his nestled on his shoulder. 

It didn’t take long for Bashe to fall asleep, nestled up against her demon, listening to the steady rhythm of his heart. Draping his arm over her, he watched her sleeping for some time. He’d missed her. Her warmth next to him. Sleeping next to each other. A luxury he only partook with her. Now he didn’t want to sleep, but watch her, deep down there was a fear that if he did sleep he would wake alone. He wasn’t sure what would happen if he lost her again, all he knew as there would be hell to pay.


End file.
